FINAL: Lakers Wrestler Hasenauer Finishes 6th in State

Auburn Hills — Most wrestlers that come up on the wrong end of a decision storm of the mat or leave the wrestling floor with a scowl. Not ’s Avery Haeanauer.

The senior’s career ended in the Division 1 medal round in the 145-lbs. weight class of the individual state finals on a 7-5 loss to Nick Mason of Detroit Catholic Central. Despite the defeat, Hasenauer walked off the mat with a smile.

“It’s life, you know?” he said. “If you can’t enjoy every moment of it, your struggles or victories, what’s the point?”

Hasenauer finished in sixth place and was only one takedown away from a fifth-place medal. He was down 6-3 headed into the third round and in the final minute almost scored two takedowns to send the match into extra time.

His coaches yelled at him from the corner of the mat to be aggressive and he listened. With 35 seconds to go in the third he hit a nice takedown and immediately let Mason get to his feet. Keeping him on the ground wouldn’t score him any extra points.

The final ten seconds were a battle. Mason sensed the momentum shifting towards his opponent and just tried to hold on as the clock wound down.

“I tried to go out with a bang,” Hasenauer said.

Both wrestlers went to the mat, but Hasenauer couldn’t turn Mason over for the takedown. The clock ran out and Hasenauer smiled.

“Whatever place you get as long as you go off the mat knowing you gave it your all, there’s nothing else you can ask for,” Hasenauer said.

And it was easy to see that’s exactly what Hasenauer did. He grabbed his gear and looked up at the crowd at The Palace of Auburn Hills one last time. “I’ve never experienced anything like it,” he said of the event. “It’s the best competition in the state, it’s just been awesome.”

11:25 a.m.: Avery Hasenauer has one more match left in his high school wrestling career. The senior from West Bloomfield will wrestle junior Nick Mason from Detroit Catholic Central later today for fifth place in the state individual finals in the 145 pound weight class.

Hasenauer lost this morning to Jordan Cooks of Davison High in overtime on a 3-2 decision to set up the match. Win or loss, Hasenauer will earn all-state honors for his performance this weekend. A solid finish to his Lakers career. Check back later this afternoon for coverage of the medal round.

Friday

Avery Hasenauer of West Bloomfield defeated Farmington High's Nick Tomski, 4-3, in the consolation bracket Friday afternoon at the individual state wrestling finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Hasenauer and Tomski were very evenly matched and traded takedowns in the second and third rounds. A late point by Hasenauer in the third gave him the lead and Tomski was unable to turn him over on a late takedown attempt to retake the lead.

Tomski limped of the mat after the match and was obviously in a lot of pain. The senior has a torn MCL that will require surgery in his left leg. The Farmington senior showed a lot of toughness this weekend and gutted it out in three matches.

“It was his dream (to win a title),” Farmington’s assistant coach Dave Hall said. “He worked hard all week, it was terrible to see the injury cost him.”

But Tomski’s loss, is Hasenauer’s gain. If the West Bloomfield senior can win out, he can finish as high as third in the standings. Tomski falls short of placing with the loss.

3:50 p.m.:  West Bloomfield's Anthony Thompson almost advanced last night, but lost a close match in overtime to Marcos Diaz of Hudsonville High. He must have used up all his energy because the senior opened the morning with a 14-3 major decision loss to Joe Lombard of Wyandotte Roosevelt High. The state tournament is over for Thompson and he will go home falling short of placing.

Thursday

Auburn Hills – West Bloomfield senior Avery Hasenauer and teammate Anthony Thompson lost their first-round matches Thursday in the first day of the MHSAA individual state wrestling finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.  

In the Division 1 145-pound weight class, Hasenauer dropped a 15-4 major decision to Jared Zimmerman of Hudsonville. Hasenauer moves to the consolation rounds where he will face Jalen Jones of Wayne Memorial High.

His teammate, Thompson, faces Joe Lombard of Wyandotte Roosevelt in the 130-pound consolation bracket in the morning.

8:05 p.m. – One of the last matches of the night was one of the best matches of the first day. West Bloomfield’s Anthony Thompson faced Marcos Diaz of Hudsonville in a match that nearly went the distance in the Division 1 130-pound weight class. The two wrestlers went into the third overtime period where Diaz pinned Thompson at the start of the 30-second period.

Thompson tied the match with just 26 seconds left in the third round to force extra time. The score was 4-3 and all Thompson needed was to get off the mat.

He struggled for a good 45 seconds to stand up and gain a point for getting back to neutral. He finally did and it looked like that took everything out of the senior. He was sluggish in the extra time and couldn’t turn over his opponent on two different occasion when he was close to a pin.  

In the last extra period, Thompson barely put up a fight as Diaz jumped on top of him for the pin. 

Patch is live at The Palace and will be providing updates through Saturday. Check back often to see how both West Bloomfield wrestlers  and others in the area are doing.

More Patch wrestling coverageBrother Rice freshman Shon Powell eliminated FridayStoney Creek’s Nick Gajdzik and Rochester’s Josh Wood both finish second in state Chavez Farris wins final two matches to take third Dakota’s Greg Day places third at 140 pounds Utica Eisenhower’s Charlie Myers finishes seventhThree Lake Fenton wrestlers bring home state titles Milan’s Tim Sims earns third in state John Julien captures third in state in Division 1 Athony Abro finishes season 60-0 and captures state title Ian Stirton takes seventh place Drew Barners takes fourth in Division 2 at 152 pounds Harrison’s Sanders, Hubbard both finish seventh in state Coach Sam Amine named one of two Division 1 coaches of the year Anchor Bay wrestlers Eric and Larry Rybarz both finish fourth in state Lake Shore’s JacQuan Moore places sixth Several wrestlers from North and South are eliminated in early rounds Roosevelt’s Joe Lombard finishes fourth Edsel Ford’s Lucas Luchonok takes seventh in finals

Correction: West Bloomfield wrestler Avery Hasenauer's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.